Vehicle component identification and configuration registry reporting system

ABSTRACT

A method and system for utilizing a telematics unit on a telematics-equipped vehicle as a register for ECU Critical Information (ECI) associated with the ECUs in the vehicle, which may include their serial numbers, configurations, software images, and other data includes the telematics unit querying ECUs within the telematics-equipped vehicle such as, for example, when the vehicle is started. The ECUs may then provide the telematics unit with the ECI associated with each ECU. The ECI may be encrypted, and the telematics unit may provide each module that it queries with a nonce used in the encryption process. The telematics unit may then decrypt the ECI received from each of the ECUs and compare the received ECI to previously stored ECI. If the received ECI is different from the previously stored ECI, the telematics unit may send the new ECI to a TSP call center. Both the telematics unit and the call center may replace the previously stored ECI with the new ECI and may maintain records of previously stored ECI and updates to the ECI.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/109,403, filed May 17, 2011, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Manufacturers and owners of conventional mobile vehicles such as cars,trucks, motorcycles, and so on face many certain problems associatedwith the security of the mobile vehicle. In particular, one problemassociated with mobile vehicles has traditionally been theft. Stolenvehicles can be hard to locate, and when stolen vehicles aredisassembled and sold for parts, it may become even more difficult totrack down the parts and identify the parties responsible for stealingor processing the vehicle. The sale of stolen vehicle parts is a problemfor manufacturers as well, as it introduces illicit competition fromused and worn parts, and harms the industry and consumers generally.

In addition to the problem of theft, manufacturers may encounterwarranty issues with owners who may tamper with certain components ofthe vehicle. For example, an owner or professional “tuner shop” mayreprogram the electric control unit (ECU) responsible for the vehicleengine with performance mappings that increase the engine performance(“tuner updates”). However this “tuning” also results in a greatlyshortened engine life. Once the engine breaks, the ECU will bere-programmed with the original settings so that the manufacturer cannotdetermine that the warranty is no longer valid due to “tuner” tampering.

The inventors observe that telematics units within telematics-equippedmobile vehicles may control and monitor various components of thevehicles, as well as provide subscribers with connectivity to atelematics service provider (TSP). The TSP provides the subscriber withan array of services ranging from emergency call handling and stolenvehicle recovery to diagnostics monitoring and turn-by-turn navigation.Telematics units are often provisioned and activated at a point of salewhen a subscriber purchases a telematics-equipped vehicle. Uponactivation, the telematics unit can be utilized to provide a subscriberwith telematics services.

It is an object in part of certain implementations of the presentinvention to utilize the telematics unit on mobile vehicles to addressthe problems of tampering and theft. However, while this is an objectunderlying certain implementations of the invention, it will beappreciated that the invention is not limited to systems that solve theproblems noted herein. Moreover, the inventors have created the abovebody of information for the convenience of the reader and expresslydisclaim all of the foregoing as prior art; the foregoing is adiscussion of problems discovered and/or appreciated by the inventors,and is not an attempt to review or catalog the prior art.

SUMMARY

The invention provides a system and method for utilizing a telematicsunit on a telematics-equipped vehicle as a register for ECU CriticalInformation (ECI) associated with the ECUs in the vehicle, which mayinclude their serial numbers, configurations, software images, and otherdata. In one implementation, the telematics unit may query ECUs withinthe telematics-equipped vehicle at some point in time, such as, forexample, when the vehicle is started, and the ECUs may then provide thetelematics unit with the ECI associated with each ECU.

In a further implementation, the telematics unit may provide each modulethat it queries with a nonce (random number used once), which may be,for example, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or GPS (GlobalPositioning System) time, and the ECUs may each send amicro-certificate, encrypted ECI (nonce used in encryption keygeneration), and a signature of the ECI to the telematics unit. Thetelematics unit may then decrypt the ECI received from each of the ECUs.

The telematics unit may then compare the micro-certificate and ECIreceived from the ECUs to previously stored micro-certificates and ECI.If either the received micro-certificate or ECI are different from thepreviously stored micro-certificate or ECI, the telematics unit may sendthe new micro-certificate and/or ECI to a TSP call center. Both thetelematics unit and the call center may replace the previously storedmicro-certificate and/or ECI with the new micro-certificate and/or ECIand may maintain records of previously stored micro-certificate and/orECI that have since been changed. In yet another further implementation,the ECI and/or the communication between the telematics unit and the TSPcall center may be cryptographically protected using micro-certificatesor standard x.509 certificates.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreading the following detailed description and upon reference to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an operating environment for a mobilevehicle communication system usable in implementations of the describedprinciples;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process for using a telematics uniton a telematics-equipped vehicle as a register for ECI and detectingchanges in ECI in accordance with an implementation of the describedprinciples;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating communications between a telematicsunit and an ECU in accordance with an implementation of the describedprinciples;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating two exemplary processes relating totampered-with ECUs and stolen ECUs in accordance with an implementationof the described principles; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process relating to anissued recall in accordance with an implementation of the describedprinciples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before discussing the details of the invention and the environmentwherein the invention may be used, a brief overview is given to guidethe reader. In general terms, not intended to limit the claims, theinvention is directed to a system and method for utilizing a telematicsunit on a telematics-equipped vehicle as a register for ECI associatedwith the ECUs in the vehicle. The telematics unit may query ECUs withinthe telematics-equipped vehicle at some point in time, and the ECUs maythen provide the telematics unit with the ECI associated with each ECU.Each telematic unit may compare any received ECI to a previously storedECI for a given ECU, and if the received ECI is different from thepreviously stored ECI, the telematics unit may send the new ECI to a TSPcall center. Both the telematics unit and the call center may replacethe previously stored ECI with the new ECI and may maintain records ofpreviously stored ECI and updates to the ECI.

Given this overview, an exemplary environment in which the invention mayoperate is described hereinafter. It will be appreciated that thedescribed environment is an example, and does not imply any limitationregarding the use of other environments to practice the invention. Withreference to FIG. 1 there is shown an example of a communication system100 that may be used with the present method and system and generallyincludes a vehicle 102, a wireless carrier system 104, a land network106 and a call center 108. It should be appreciated that the overallarchitecture, setup and operation, as well as the individual componentsof a system such as that shown here are generally known in the art.Thus, the following paragraphs simply provide a brief overview of onesuch exemplary information system 100; however, other systems not shownhere could employ the present method as well.

Vehicle 102 is preferably a mobile vehicle such as a motorcycle, car,truck, recreational vehicle (RV), boat, plane, etc., and is equippedwith suitable hardware and software that enables it to communicate oversystem 100. Some of the vehicle hardware 110 is shown generally in FIG.1 including a telematics unit 114, a microphone 116, a speaker 118 andbuttons and/or controls 120 connected to the telematics unit 114.Operatively coupled to the telematics unit 114 is a network connectionor vehicle bus 122. Examples of suitable network connections include acontroller area network (CAN), a media oriented system transfer (MOST),a local interconnection network (LIN), an Ethernet, and otherappropriate connections such as those that conform with known ISO, SAE,and IEEE standards and specifications, to name a few.

The telematics unit 114 is an onboard device that provides a variety ofservices through its communication with the call center 108, andgenerally includes an electronic processing device 128 one or more typesof electronic memory 130, a cellular chipset/component 124, a wirelessmodem 126, a dual antenna 160 and a navigation unit containing a GPSchipset/component 132. In one example, the wireless modem 126 iscomprised of a computer program and/or set of software routinesexecuting within processing device 128. The cellular chipset/component124 and the wireless modem 126 may be called the network access device(NAD) of the telematics unit 114.

The telematics unit 114 provides too many services to list them all, butseveral examples include: turn-by-turn directions and othernavigation-related services provided in conjunction with the GPS basedchipset/component 132; airbag deployment notification and otheremergency or roadside assistance-related services provided in connectionwith various crash and or collision sensor interface modules 156 andsensors 158 located throughout the vehicle. Infotainment-relatedservices where music, Web pages, movies, television programs, videogames and/or other content is downloaded by an infotainment center 136operatively connected to the telematics unit 114 via vehicle bus 122 andaudio bus 112. In one example, downloaded content is stored for currentor later playback.

Again, the above-listed services are by no means an exhaustive list ofall the capabilities of telematics unit 114, as should be appreciated bythose skilled in the art, but are simply an illustration of some of theservices that the telematics unit 114 is capable of offering. It isanticipated that telematics unit 114 include a number of knowncomponents in addition to those listed above.

Vehicle communications preferably use radio transmissions to establish avoice channel with wireless carrier system 104 so that both voice anddata transmissions can be sent and received over the voice channel.Vehicle communications are enabled via the cellular chipset/component124 for voice communications and a wireless modem 126 for datatransmission. In order to enable successful data transmission over thevoice channel, wireless modem 126 applies some type of encoding ormodulation to convert the digital data so that it can communicatethrough a vocoder or speech codec incorporated in the cellularchipset/component 124. Any suitable encoding or modulation techniquethat provides an acceptable data rate and bit error can be used with thepresent method. Dual mode antenna 160 services the GPS chipset/componentand the cellular chipset/component.

Microphone 116 provides the driver or other vehicle occupant with ameans for inputting verbal or other auditory commands, and can beequipped with an embedded voice processing unit utilizing ahuman/machine interface (HMI) technology known in the art. Conversely,speaker 118 provides verbal output to the vehicle occupants and can beeither a stand-alone speaker specifically dedicated for use with thetelematics unit 114 or can be part of a vehicle audio component 154. Ineither event, microphone 116 and speaker 118 enable vehicle hardware 110and call center 108 to communicate with the occupants through audiblespeech. The vehicle hardware also includes one or more buttons orcontrols 120 for enabling a vehicle occupant to activate or engage oneor more of the vehicle hardware components 110. For example, one of thebuttons 120 can be an electronic push button used to initiate voicecommunication with call center 108 (whether it be a live advisor 148 oran automated call response system). In another example, one of thebuttons 120 can be used to initiate emergency services.

The audio component 154 is operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122and the audio bus 112. The audio component 154 receives analoginformation, rendering it as sound, via the audio bus 112. Digitalinformation is received via the vehicle bus 122. The audio component 154provides AM and FM radio, CD, DVD, and multimedia functionalityindependent of the infotainment center 136. Audio component 154 maycontain a speaker system, or may utilize speaker 118 via arbitration onvehicle bus 122 and/or audio bus 112.

The vehicle crash and/or collision detection sensor interface 156 areoperatively connected to the vehicle bus 122. The crash sensors 158provide information to the telematics unit 114 via the crash and/orcollision detection sensor interface 156 regarding the severity of avehicle collision, such as the angle of impact and the amount of forcesustained.

Vehicle sensors 162, connected to various sensor interface modules 134are operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122. Example vehiclesensors include but are not limited to gyroscopes, accelerometers,magnetometers, emission detection and/or control sensors, and the like.Example sensor interface modules 134 include power train control,climate control, and body control, to name but a few.

Wireless carrier system 104 is preferably a cellular telephone system orany other suitable wireless system that transmits signals between thevehicle hardware 110 and land network 106. According to an example,wireless carrier system 104 includes one or more cell towers 138, basestations and/or mobile switching centers (MSCs) 140, as well as anyother networking components required to connect the wireless system 104with land network 106. A component in the mobile switching center mayinclude a remote data server 144.

As appreciated by those skilled in the art, various cell tower/basestation/MSC arrangements are possible and could be used with wirelesssystem 104. For example, a base station and a cell tower could beco-located at the same site or they could be remotely located, and asingle base station could be coupled to various cell towers or variousbase stations could be coupled with a single MSC, to but a few of thepossible arrangements. Preferably, a speech codec or vocoder isincorporated in one or more of the base stations, but depending on theparticular architecture of the wireless network, it could beincorporated within a Mobile Switching Center or some other networkcomponents as well.

Land network 106 can be a conventional land-based telecommunicationsnetwork that is connected to one or more landline telephones andconnects wireless carrier network 104 to call center 108. For example,land network 106 can include a public switched telephone network (PSTN)and/or an Internet protocol (IP) network, as is appreciated by thoseskilled in the art. Of course, one or more segments of the land network106 can be implemented in the form of a standard wired network, a fiberor other optical network, a cable network, other wireless networks suchas wireless local networks (WLANs) or networks providing broadbandwireless access (BWA), or any combination thereof.

Operations Call Center (OCC) 108 is designed to provide the vehiclehardware 110 with a number of different system back-end functions and,according to the example shown here, generally includes one or moreswitches 142, servers 144, databases 146, live advisors 148, as well asa variety of other telecommunication and computer equipment 150 that isknown to those skilled in the art. These various call center componentsare preferably coupled to one another via a network connection or bus152, such as the one previously described in connection with the vehiclehardware 110. Switch 142, which can be a private branch exchange (PBX)switch, routes incoming signals so that voice transmissions are usuallysent to either the live advisor 148 or an automated response system, anddata transmissions are passed on to a modem or other piece of equipment150 for demodulation and further signal processing.

The modem 150 preferably includes an encoder, as previously explained,and can be connected to various devices such as a server 144 anddatabase 146. For example, database 146 could be designed to storesubscriber profile records, subscriber behavioral patterns, or any otherpertinent subscriber information. Although the illustrated example hasbeen described as it would be used in conjunction with a manned callcenter 108, it will be appreciated that the call center 108 can be anycentral or remote facility, manned or unmanned, mobile or fixed, to orfrom which it is desirable to exchange voice and data.

It will be appreciated that the components depicted in FIG. 1, as wellas other modules that may be included in a vehicle but are not depictedin FIG. 1, may include or be connected to appropriate ECUs, which are,generally speaking, control units that control one or more of thesystems or subsystems in the vehicle. The telematics unit 114 maycommunicate with the ECUs, including, for example, sending queries tothe ECUs and receiving ECI from the ECUs, and the telematics unit 114may be connected to the ECUs through wired or wireless connections.Examples of types of ECUs include and are not limited to, airbag controlunits, convenience control units, door control units, engine controlunits, man machine interfaces, on-board diagnostics units, powertraincontrol modules, seat control units, speed control units, telephonecontrol units, and transmission control units.

With further reference to the architecture of FIG. 1, and turning morespecifically to FIG. 2, a process 200 for using a telematics unit on atelematics-equipped vehicle as a register for ECI and detecting changesin ECI is depicted. At some point in time, such as when atelematics-equipped vehicle is started, the telematics unit may send aquery 201 to ECUs within the vehicle, and the ECUs may respond 203 withECI (including but not limited to serial numbers, configurations,software images, and other data). In a further implementation the ECIreceived from an ECU may be encrypted, and the telematics unit may thendecrypt 205 the ECI, which will be discussed in further detail below.

The telematics unit may then compare 207 the ECI received in response tothe query to previously stored ECI. If any of the ECI is different 209from the previously stored ECI, the telematics unit may update 211 itspreviously stored ECI with the new ECI, and may further maintain arecord 211 of previously stored ECIs and updates made to them. Thetelematics unit may further send 213 the new ECI that is different fromthe previously stored ECI to a TSP call center, and the TSP call centermay also update its previously stored ECI at the call center with thenew ECI, and may also maintain a record of previously stored ECI andupdates made to them for each vehicle. Based on the change from thepreviously stored ECI to the new ECI received from the telematics unit,the call center may or may not take further appropriate action,depending on the information, as will be discussed in further detailbelow.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the executionof the various machine-implemented processes and steps described hereinmay occur via the computerized execution of computer-executableinstructions stored on a non-transient, tangible computer-readablemedium, e.g., RAM, ROM, PROM, volatile, nonvolatile, or other electronicmemory mechanism. Thus, for example, the operations performed by thetelematics unit and the ECUs may be carried out according to storedinstructions or applications installed on the telematics unit and theECUs.

With further reference to the architecture of FIG. 1 and the process ofFIG. 2, and turning now more specifically to FIG. 3, a schematic 300 isdepicted that illustrates exemplary communications between a telematicsunit 301 and an ECU 310 in one implementation where the ECI isencrypted. The telematics unit 301, which has a Certification Authority(CA) Root Certificate 302 stored on it, may send a first message 320(e.g. a query) to the ECU 310, wherein the query includes a nonce,which, for example, may be the GPS time 321 or GPRS time. The ECU 310,which has a micro-certificate 311, and private key 312, may reply to thefirst message 320 with a second message 330. A micro-certificate, suchas an implicit certificate used in Elliptical Curve Cryptography, may beused to secure communications while occupying less data than otherencryption techniques. The micro-certificate may include an identifierassociated with an entity, as well as a public key certificate anddigital signature superimposed upon one another.

The second message 330 may include the micro-certificate, encrypted ECI,and an encrypted SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm-1) hash based on the ECIand nonce 331. The encrypted ECI and the encrypted SHA-1 hash may beencrypted by the private key 312 from the ECU. The telematics unit 301may obtain a public key from the micro-certificate and use the publickey to decrypt the encrypted ECI and encrypted SHA-1 hash. Thetelematics unit 301 may further perform a hash function on the decryptedECI and the previously sent nonce, which allows the telematics unit 301to verify that the ECI has not been altered.

In a further implementation, the telematics unit and the call center maycommunicate over a secure connection as well, permitting the reportingof ECI to the call center by the telematics unit with privacy and a highdegree of confidence in the validity of the reporting. Implementation ofa secure connection between the telematics unit and the call centerusing micro-certificates may be achieved by storing a private key at thetelematics unit and providing the corresponding public key to the callcenter (e.g. by sending a micro-certificate including the telematicsunit's public key to the call center from the telematics unit or from aCA).

Then, the telematics unit may receive a micro-certificate including thecall center's public key (e.g. from the call center or from a CA). Afterextracting the public key from the micro-certificate, the telematicsunit may encrypt any information to be sent to the call center using thecall center's public key. The telematics unit may further perform asecond encryption using the telematics unit's private key.

The encrypted information may then be sent to the call center, and thecall center may decrypt it using the telematics unit's public key andthe call center's private key. Through this process, the call center isable to ensure the confidentiality of the communication and verify theidentity of the telematics unit.

The use of micro-certificates in secure communications is discussed infurther detail in U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0202616, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. One skilled in the art willappreciate that other types and variations of cryptographic schemes maybe used to protect the exchanges between the telematics unit and the ECUand between the telematics unit and the call center, and that thepresent invention is not limited to the exemplary cryptographicexchanges described above.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a process 400 is depicted illustrating twoexamples wherein an implementation of the described principles wouldproduce advantageous results in connection with tampered-with or stolenECUs. Given a situation where an ECU in a telematics-equipped vehiclehas been tampered with 401 or a situation where an ECU was extractedfrom a stolen vehicle and installed into a telematics-equipped vehicle403, when the vehicle is started 405, the telematics unit may query theECUs of the vehicle as described above with respect to FIG. 2. Uponquerying the ECUs and comparing the received ECI with the previouslystored ECI 407, the telematics unit would determine that the ECI haschanged for both a vehicle that has been tampered with and a vehiclethat was newly installed with a stolen ECU.

The telematics unit could then notify the TSP of this difference 409,and the TSP may take appropriate action in response 411. For example, ifthe ECU has been tampered with, the TSP may notify the manufacturer suchthat the manufacturer may investigate whether there was a breach ofwarranty, and the TSP may also notify the user of the vehicle throughthe telematics unit that an ECU has been tampered with. If the ECU camefrom a stolen vehicle, the TSP may be able to determine that it camefrom a stolen vehicle based on the TSP's records of the ECUs associatedwith vehicles reported as stolen. The TSP may further notify the properauthorities, which may lead to discovery of a “chop shop” selling manystolen parts or other useful information.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a process 500 is depicted illustrating anexemplary situation wherein an implementation of the describedprinciples would produce advantageous results in connection with arecall. Given a situation where a manufacturer realizes that a type ofECU or component connected with a type of ECU on a group oftelematics-equipped vehicles is defective and issues a recall on thosevehicles 501, a TSP may identify 503 all the telematics-equippedvehicles in that group that contain the defective component.

The TSP may perform the identification by checking its own records ofECI and may broadcast a message to telematics-equipped vehiclescontaining the defective component notifying them of the recall. Thetelematics unit may then further notify 505 a user of the vehicle of therecall, and may take further action 507 as appropriate. For example, ifthe defect is very serious, the telematics unit may goes as far asrendering the vehicle inoperable to protect the safety of users of thevehicle.

In an alternative implementation, the bad software does not touch thecertificate on installation and the software is modified to alwaysemploy the legitimate (previous) image's known hash (prior to addingnonce) to the hash along with the querying telematics unit's latestnonce. This “faked” hash is then provided to the querying telematicsunit to defeat a tuner with sophisticated capabilities. Two capabilitiesare needed in this alternative implementation: 1. The ECU can permitanother ECU, like the telematics unit, to read it's program memorydirectly (or indirectly if interface CPU's software is inviolable.) 2.Upon performing a SHA 1 Hash on the software in the ECU's FLASH, thetelematics unit can use it's certificate to generate a signature andcompare it to a previously calculated signature for the same ECU. Therest of the reporting logic is the same in this implementation.

It will be appreciated that the described system and method allow forutilizing a telematics unit on a telematics-equipped vehicle as aregister for ECI associated with the ECUs in the vehicle. It will alsobe appreciated, however, that the foregoing methods and implementationsare merely examples of the inventive principles, and that theseillustrate only preferred techniques.

It is thus contemplated that other implementations of the invention maydiffer in detail from foregoing examples. As such, all references to theinvention are intended to reference the particular example of theinvention being discussed at that point in the description and are notintended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the invention moregenerally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect tocertain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for thosefeatures, but not to exclude such from the scope of the inventionentirely unless otherwise indicated.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the invention (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing”are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, butnot limited to”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of valuesherein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referringindividually to each separate value falling within the range, unlessotherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated intothe specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methodsdescribed herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwiseindicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The useof any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the inventionand does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unlessotherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construedas indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice ofthe invention.

Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalentsof the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permittedby applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-describedelements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by theinvention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearlycontradicted by context.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for registering electronic controlunit (ECU) critical information, comprising: a plurality oftelematics-equipped vehicles, each telematics-equipped vehiclecomprising a telematics unit configured to communicate with an ECU ofthe respective telematics-equipped vehicle to obtain ECU criticalinformation (ECI) corresponding to the ECU, and to transmit the ECI to atelematics service provider (TSP) call center, wherein the ECI obtainedby each telematics unit is encrypted, and wherein each telematics unitis further configured to verify the integrity of the obtained encryptedECI by: obtaining an encrypted hash function result corresponding tocontents of the encrypted ECI obtained by the telematics unit,decrypting the obtained encrypted ECI, performing a hash function on thedecrypted ECI to obtain a hash function result corresponding to thedecrypted ECI, decrypting the obtained encrypted hash function result,and comparing the hash function result corresponding to the decryptedECI with the decrypted obtained hash function result; and the TSP callcenter, configured to receive ECI from the plurality oftelematics-equipped vehicles and to identify stolen vehicles and toissue targeted recall notifications based on the received ECI; whereinthe TSP call center identifying stolen vehicles comprises: comparingreceived ECI with ECI corresponding to ECUs reported as stolen todetermine whether the ECI received from a telematics-equipped vehiclematches the ECI corresponding to an ECU reported as stolen; and whereinthe TSP call center issuing targeted recall notifications comprises:identifying a defective ECU for which a recall notification is to beissued; identifying telematics-equipped vehicles of the plurality oftelematics-equipped vehicles with the defective ECU installed based onthe received ECI; and transmitting a recall notification to theidentified telematics-equipped vehicles.
 2. The system according toclaim 1, wherein identifying telematics-equipped vehicles of theplurality of telematics-equipped vehicles with the defective ECUinstalled further includes identification of telematics-equippedvehicles that have previously had the defective ECU installed thereonbased on the received ECI.
 3. The system according to claim 1, whereintransmission of the ECI to the TSP call center by the telematics unitsis triggered by the telematics-equipped vehicle detecting a change inECI of an ECU of the telematics-equipped vehicle.
 4. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the telematics unit obtaining the ECI istriggered by the telematics-equipped vehicle being started.
 5. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein transmission of the ECI to the TSPcall center by the telematics units is encrypted.
 6. The systemaccording to claim 5, wherein the TSP call center has a public andprivate key pair associated therewith, and the telematics units areconfigured to encrypt ECI to be transmitted using the public key of thepair, and the TSP call center is configured to decrypt transmitted ECIusing the private key of the pair.
 7. The system according to claim 1,wherein the obtained ECI corresponds to an ECU serial number.
 8. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the obtained ECI corresponds to ECUconfiguration data.
 9. The system according to claim 1, wherein theobtained ECI corresponds to an ECU software image.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions storedthereon for registering electronic control unit (ECU) criticalinformation of a telematics-equipped vehicle with a telematics serviceprovider (TSP) call center, the processor-executable instructions, whenexecuted by a processor, facilitating performance of the following:communicating, by a telematics unit, with an ECU of thetelematics-equipped vehicle to obtain ECU critical information (ECI)corresponding to the ECU, wherein the ECI obtained by each telematicsunit is encrypted; verifying, by the telematics unit, the integrity ofthe obtained encrypted ECI, wherein the verifying further comprises:obtaining an encrypted hash function result corresponding to contents ofthe encrypted ECI obtained by the telematics unit, decrypting theobtained encrypted ECI, performing a hash function on the decrypted ECIto obtain a hash function result corresponding to the decrypted ECI,decrypting the obtained encrypted hash function result, and comparingthe hash function result corresponding to the decrypted ECI with thedecrypted obtained hash function result; and transmitting, by thetelematics unit, the ECI to the TSP call center to facilitate stolenvehicle identification and targeted recall notifications by the TSP callcenter.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 10, wherein transmission of the ECI to the TSP call center istriggered by the telematics-equipped vehicle detecting a change in ECIof an ECU of the telematics-equipped vehicle.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein the telematicsunits obtaining the ECI is triggered by the telematics-equipped vehiclebeing started.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium accordingto claim 10, wherein transmission of the ECI to the TSP call center isencrypted.
 14. A method for registering electronic control unit (ECU)critical information of a telematics-equipped vehicle with a telematicsservice provider (TSP) call center, the method comprising:communicating, by a telematics unit, with an ECU of thetelematics-equipped vehicle to obtain ECU critical information (ECI)corresponding to the ECU, wherein the ECI obtained by each telematicsunit is encrypted; verifying, by the telematics unit, the integrity ofthe obtained encrypted ECI, wherein the verifying further comprises:obtaining an encrypted hash function result corresponding to contents ofthe encrypted ECI obtained by the telematics unit, decrypting theobtained encrypted ECI, performing a hash function on the decrypted ECIto obtain a hash function result corresponding to the decrypted ECI,decrypting the obtained encrypted hash function result, and comparingthe hash function result corresponding to the decrypted ECI with thedecrypted obtained hash function result; and transmitting, by thetelematics unit, the ECI to the TSP call center to facilitate stolenvehicle identification and targeted recall notifications by the TSP callcenter.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein transmission ofthe ECI to the TSP call center is triggered by the telematics-equippedvehicle detecting a change in ECI of an ECU of the telematics-equippedvehicle.
 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the telematicsunits obtaining the ECI is triggered by the telematics-equipped vehiclebeing started.
 17. The method according to claim 14, whereintransmission of the ECI to the TSP call center is encrypted.